US stocks finished mostly lower in another choppy day of trading after a midday rally faded.

House of Fraser is being sold by its Chinese owners in the latest sign of upheaval on Britain's beleaguered high street.

Retailer Toys R Us UK has collapsed into administration, putting 3,200 jobs at risk, after last-ditch rescue attempts failed.

Stores in the North are likely to be casualties of Toys R Us plans to close 26 stores in Britain and the North as part of its bankruptcy restructuring in the US.

Nintendo is being pretty tight lipped about its new games console, dubbed the Switch.

Some of the stranger stories from around the globe

A man in the UK has been charged following an incident where a man allegedly crashed his car and then ran naked through a toy shop.

Toys R Us has scrapped its four collectible dolls based on the characters of the hit television series Breaking Bad after a campaign by a US mother.

Apple has launched its first smartwatch as well as a new enlarged iPhone, called the iPhone 6 Plus.

Apple has introduced a new bigger iPhone for the first time, called the iPhone 6 Plus.

Now that the Labour Party has had a good long look at its navel as part of its elongated but deeply democratic leadership election process, is there any chance they might get up on their hind legs and address the one issue that surfaced, and re-surfaced, constantly, in a form of unchallenged stereotypy, throughout the contest?

USA:

Sony’s PlayStation 4 will go on sale in the Japanese firm’s home country three months after it hits stores in Europe and the US, it was announced today amid speculation the tech giant is struggling to meet high demand.

The stock market enjoyed some Black Friday cheer, rising sharply as shoppers braved the annual post-Thanksgiving rush. Major stock indexes closed one of their best weeks of the year.

An Irish mother and son have stolen more than €2m worth of toys from Toys R Us stores across the United States.

A mother and son stole more than $2m (€1.6m) in expensive toys by stashing them inside the boxes of cheaper products they bought at Toys R Us stores across the US, authorities say.

A FEW violent incidents broke out across America on Black Friday as millions of shoppers rushed into stores that opened hours earlier than usual on the most anticipated shopping day of the year.

Robbie Williams is rejoining Take That, according to sources.

MODEL Katie Price and new husband Alex Reid have been questioned about a row over a disabled parking space, police said.

More than 2.1 million baby cots going back to 1993 are being recalled in the US, following reports of four baby deaths from suffocation.

Online retailer Amazon grew sales between April and June but saw its shares suffer last night after revealing a fall in quarterly profits.

A NORTHERN Ireland property firm has purchased a shopping centre in Britain for £116m (€146m).

Batman fans have cleaned out New York toy stores' entire supply of Heath Ledger's Joker action figure, within minutes of their going on sale.

About 280,000 toys sold in the UK have been recalled amid safety fears over detachable magnets.

CORK-BASED property investment group CMC Capital has completed the purchase of a major shopping centre in Berlin for more than €100 million.

NINTENDO’S entry into the game console wars, the Wii, quickly sold out in many New York stores despite stocks that far surpassed those of the rival PlayStation 3, on sale two days earlier.

Nintendo’s entry into the game console wars, the Wii, quickly sold out in many New York stores despite stocks that far surpassed those of the rival PlayStation 3, on sale two days earlier.

Car safety seats-to-pushchairs firm Britax Childcare broke free from its parent company today after being sold in a deal worth £230m (€339m).

Wall Street stabilised today, closing little changed although another spike in oil prices sent many investors to the safety of the bond market. Scattered bargain-hunting after the previous session’s slide kept selling to a minimum.

A consortium of two private-equity firms and a real estate developer has reportedly agreed to pay $5.7bn (€4.2bn) to buy all of New Jersey-based Toys R Us, the second-biggest toy retailer in the US.

Michael Jackson’s teenage accuser said today he told a school administrator the singer did not molest him because he wanted to avoid teasing by classmates.

Greencore has appointed David Simons as a non-executive director. Mr Simons is chairman of British retail chain Littlewoods and will take up his new position from July 1.

The board of ISEQ-listed food company Greencore has appointed David Simons as a non-executive director, with effect from July 1.

A bizarre craze which has been sweeping the United States and Europe for several months is expected to hit Dublin in the coming days.

A survey suggests online Christmas shopping peaked well before the big day.